Several arrests have been made in Belgium, France, and Spain as part of a joint police operation against a notorious international drug trafficking gang.
Three people were detained in Belgium, six in France, and the alleged mastermind was arrested in Spain. This is according to the Mons-Tournai's King Prosecutor Vincent Macq, who announced the news on Thursday in a statement.
Various house searches were conducted on Tuesday morning as part of an investigation into the international trade of heroin and cocaine, as well as cannabis cultivation.
In Belgium, a person with irregular residency status was placed in a detention centre. Two cannabis plantations with 2,530 plants were also dismantled. Police also seized two handguns, three vehicles and €1,500. In France, police seized 1.7 kilos of heroin, 700 grams of cocaine, among others.
The trade was organised by an Albanian-speaking gang, primarily active in Spain and the Netherlands. The organisation also had "local accomplices" in Belgium and France.
The investigation team, involving the judicial police from Grenoble and the federal judicial police from Mons-Tournai, utilised multiple techniques to track the gang. The operation was coordinated by the European agency Eurojust.
